Barbara

I can attest that these reheat wonderfully by wrapping in aluminum foil and sticking the oven for a few minutes. Thanks, Scottee!

Since the adults in my family don't exchange "store bought" gifts, we all make something to eat and exchange the goodies. I make Limoncello every year and give it away. I get bottles from Specialty Bottles and labels from My Own Labels (www.myownlabels.com). This year's supply of both just arrived this week. If you make preserves, relishes, or anything else which can be canned or bottled, do check out these two sites. They should have everything you could need and the possibilities for labels are practically limitless.

The "modern" steamed puddings I make don't use suet and steam for much less time than the traditional ones. One I make is a bourbon/pecan pudding with a bourbon/pecan sauce that one friend described as being like "liquid pralines." This was meant as a compliment. Another is a ginger/orange pudding served with a hardsauce made with orange liqeuer. A third is a "Caribbean" plum pudding that tastes more like a traditional Christmas pudding and is served with a brandied hard sauce. Whichever I make, it gets flamed with the lights out and everybody sings. This may be because, by this time, everyone is well lubricated .

Now, now. There are modern steamed puddings which are quite wonderful. I usually make one for Christmas and let me tell ya, everybody loves them.

I don't know how "British" this is, but I think marzipan tastes like Christmas. Must be because when we lived in Germany fruit-shaped marzipan was a seasonal thing. I wonder, though, how you would keep it from drying out around a cake. Hannah just beat me to the punch. I had heard of icing a fruitcake, but that is really not appealing, however lovely that picture is.

I completely forgot about those. I LOVED 'em. I have no desire to eat them now, however. Ditto the "Welcome" from Mrs. B.

Maybe it's because I grew up with food writing from "women's" magazines which specialized in the "men will really love this" type of writing, that when I first read Fisher I was blown away by the simple sensuousness with which she approached food (and other things). I also realized that she was writing at a time when this was NEW. Maybe this is a generational thing . . . I came of age when the stultifying cloak of the Suburban "Housewife" ideal was being thrown off with a kind of violence and NOBODY I knew had ever read anything by her. Not that the debate has ended. Far from it; but at least there is a realization that not every woman has the opportunity to choose to stay at home or not. This may explain why I am in the anti-Martha Stewart camp. I just can't bring myself to forgive her seeming obliviousness when it comes to the sheer time-consuming labor (not to mention cost) of her projects. Of course there is the camp that will say I am missing the whole point of Martha. OK, whatever. Then along came Julia. Bless her heart and may she and Paul rest in peace. When I think of where "home cooking" in America was headed, before she came on the scene, I shudder. She changed everything. Just imagine if there would even be a Food Network or a website like this one without her. I'm just sayin".

I think you feel intimidated by the guys who measure their "manhood" by the food they eat. More's the pity for them. And, YOU CAN COOK!!! I'll bet Mrs. Bilrus appreciates THAT particular talent.

Ruth Reichl edited a compilation of Fisher's writing, in more or less chronological order, a few years ago entitled "The Measure of Her Powers." If you can only read one MFK Fisher book, then this is the one to get. I think all of us on this site can appreciate the approach to food that she and some others have. They inspire even the non-creative cooks, like me.

This one is also on my wish list. Thanks for the reminder.

Upon flipping through the new issue of "The New Yorker" this week, an ad caught my eye--especially since it took up 2/3 of a page. It was for the new book "Julie & Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen" by Julie Powell. For those of you unfamiliar with this, the book is the result of a project started a couple of years ago by Julie Powell whereby she set out to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1" in a year and described her efforts on a blog. She attracted quite a number of readers, particularly after The New York Times published a story about her, and eventually landed a book publishing contract. I've just ordered a copy from Amazon and look forward (with relish?) to reading it. I was able to buy "Mastering" for $2 for both volumes several years ago at a yard sale and used them mostly as reference books. However, I learned quite a bit reading Powell's blog and have used them more often since then. Have any of you read her blog? Or her book? I'm interested in your comments about them both. BTW, you can find her blog by searching for "The Julie/Julia Project." You will have to back up to the beginning to find the start of it. Be prepared to spend an awful lot of time reading this thing. I found it rather addictive.

I had a stale (!) almond croissant from the 7-11.

Yeah, but if you DO revert to form, you may be surprised at the level of compliance you will get. Except polishing your shoes or kissing your butt. We only kiss Jacques (nicely smoked) butt.

The dinner at Corduroy last night was simply delicious. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Ferhat and his associates poured a sparkling brut rose and came around with plates of THOSE spring rolls (much shorter than the usual ones, making them a lot easier to eat), oysters on the half shell (which I passed up) and Rilletes of Duck Leg. This was a most wonderful pate served as a scoop on a slice of baguette. Since I was already worried about being able to eat everything to come, I limited myself to just one of these; however, I found this stuff as addictive as Craig finds the Firefly fried oysters. I was imagining myself with a bowl of this and a spoon . The first course was a Vidalia Onion Soubise, served with a Pinot Gris. This was a creamy onion soup that was full of flavor. The wine paired very well with this, not to gild the lily or anything. Next came my favorite of the night: Peppered Rare Tuna with Kabocha Squash Baghi, served with a 2004 Pinot Noir. What a great combination of flavors. My only quibble was that the wine probably should have been a bit sweeter, to complement the sweetness of the squash. The third course was Roast Ballotine of Sunnyside Farms Chicken and Local Shitake Mushrooms, Foie Gras Sauce. I wish I had a picture, then I wouldn't have to strain my brain to describe this: two slices of what looked like a sausage or country pate. How do I describe this sauce? "Lick the plate" Good? The 2003 Pinot Noir went beautifully with this. One of our tablemates said that she never expected to drink red wine with chicken, but it worked. Course #4: Niman Ranch Pork Belly with Savoy Cabbage. It was a good thing there was a chill in the air last night because this dish defined "comfort food", particularly when it's cold outside and Spring seems very far away. But, because it was cooked by Tom Power, this was raised a few levels above what "Pork and Cabbage" might bring to mind. The wine was a 2002 Pinot Noir. Just lovely. The Fifth and, supposedly, final course: Epoisses with Burgundy Truffle and figs. Rissa told me earlier that she wanted to serve a cheese course instead of a sweet dessert. OK by me. Chef Power dug out his Port and served that with the soft, smelly cheese and fresh (!) figs. Well, I thought, THAT was certainly a satisfying dinner and was congratulating myself on being able to join the Clean Plate Club, when out came another soup plate containing a scoop of Honey Creme Fraiche Ice Cream with a lacy cookie. I happily ate that, too. The wines were provided by R. Stuart Wines of Oregon. A representative of the winery was there, a lovely and enthusiastic lady from Ireland of all places, to give us the background of the winery and to talk about the various vintages we were drinking. At $100 per person (including the tip ), this was a real bargain. And $25 of that was donated to Share Our Strength to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Which meant, of course, that Chef Power was giving away his food last night. So we added some extra bucks to the bill (are you reading this, Rocks? You're welcome). A special added attraction was that I was sitting so that I could face the corridor where the servers pick up dishes from the kitchen. Ferhat sat another couple with us, so we had lovely company for the evening. I was able to surreptitiously observe the "ballet" that Ferhat and the others performed. Since I have never worked in a restaurant before (being a cashier at the restaurant in the Holiday Inn in Rosslyn 30+ years ago doesn't count), I was interested in how they managed to serve about 36 people mostly at the same time in such a seemingly serene way. From first course to last took about 3 hours. I thought the pacing was just right. Michael Landrum, if you are reading this: The couple sitting with us mentioned that they had never eaten at your place because they had heard that reservations were hard to come by and you have a 90-MINUTE TIME LIMIT. I explained what that was all about, I believe in the way YOU have explained this several times in several venues. You're welcome. Those who missed out on the Restaurant Eve dinner would have done themselves a favor by being at the Corduroy dinner. And, because of the donation to SOS, we got to feel smug, aside from satiated. Rissa has to be at work at 4 on Sunday, but plans to spend a couple of hours with us at the picnic. Ferhat is off on Sunday and is planning on joining us, too. I'm anxious to see if he will be able to just sit back and enjoy himself or if he will feel the need to keep glasses full and checking on everybody

So, how many cases of each did you buy?

If you carefully peruse the Fall menu someplace earlier on this thread, you will see that the lamb will still be there. But, instead of tomato bread pudding, there will be PUMPKIN bread pudding. And, the cherry tomatoes will be replaced by sun-dried tomatoes. I, personally, can't wait to do a "compare and contrast." My DH, also named Craig but clearly NOT the same person, thinks Wabeck puts Crack in those fried oysters.

Yes, but there will undoubtedly be other occasions . . . as long as HillValley's "Inner Party Organzer" kicks in whenever a successful Rockwellian event takes place.

Can you elaborate? Craig and I have been going to Bistrot du Coin on Thanksgiving to avoid turkey. However, the food is usually less than stellar.

They DO wrap up gift bottles rather nicely, having been the recipient of such. And the wine was pretty good, too. However, there are much better selections at much better prices not very far away from the Dupont Circle store.

Add Craig and me. BTW, has the start time been determined yet? Is 1 pm official?

Yes, Craig and I have reservations. I told Ferhat that if any self-identified Rockwellians called and wanted company that we would be more than happy to be seated with said people. I am assuming that seating will be done as usual, although I could very well be wrong.

Paul, your example may or may not be exceptional. Those of us who have been to a HH or two at Firefly have learned that John Wabeck has been going through the process of being certified (if that's the right term) as a sommelier. Not that he wants to stop cooking, thank God, but to be more knowledgeable about wine and wine pairings with food. It is inconcievable to me that he and Derek don't discuss all this on an ongoing basis, and probably do a fair bit of tasting themselves, which means you will probably get the very best advice about which wines will go best with any item on the menu. Since I have yet to be served at the bar or in the dining room at Firefly by anyone with an attitude, it seems that if any of the servers are "offended" that you want Derek's advice, there is something wrong. Never having been a waitron myself, I assume it would be a relief to have someone really knowledgeable to make the suggestions. My question: are servers that thin-skinned?

Amen, Sister. For those of you who don't have or don't trust your culinary skills there are quite a few alternatives. The bottom line is: if it tastes good, we will be happy to eat it, whether or not you made it yourself.

Though it may SEEM counter-intuitive, this is one of the least intimidating crowds you can imagine--everybody is shy at first, but we all get over it. The green beans sound splendid to me and I am looking forward to meeting you and Mr. S. Barbara

Back when the city was broke and before the Control Board was installed, this rumor cropped up. There were virtually no closures listed in the WaPo for weeks on end. And I didn't believe it was because all the food providers in town were complying with all the Health Department strictures.